The Times Union is reporting the Niskayuna Central School District, in Schenectady County, has temporarily closed one of its elementary schools in the wake of an unusual number of absences this week attributed to students sickened by the flu. Birchwood Elementary School was closed on Fri., Jan. 24, to give the janitorial staff the time needed to complete a significant cleaning of the building. In a post on its website, the district said, "It is our hope that this day and the weekend will provide time to help stop the spread of illness. We plan to open on our regular schedule on Monday." Classes will be held as usual on Friday at the district's other schools. The illnesses reported at Birchwood have occurred in the midst of a flu outbreak statewide. As of January 18, there were 13,483 laboratory-confirmed influenza reports, a 22 percent increase over the previous week. Read the full story in the Times Union.